The Isak-Muivah faction of the National Socialist Council of Nagaland (NSCN-IM) has termed as baseless the “accusation” by the Kuki tribal group that it was responsible for ethnic cleansing in Manipur more than two decades ago.
The Kuki-Naga conflict in the 1990s was “started by the Kukis”, the outfit said and reminded the Kukis that observing a black day on September 13 to mark the massacre of 115 people in Senapati district of Manipur in 1993 would never ensure harmonious coexistence but increase the animosity between the Nagas and the Kukis. “As a matter of fact, the Kukis started the Naga-Kuki conflict in 1992 which compelled the Nagas to form the Naga Lim Guard (NLG) for self-defence; otherwise, the marauding Kukis might have displaced more Naga villages and taken the lives of more innnocent Nagas,” the NSCN-IM said in a statement, asserting that the Kukis’ bid to capture the strategic Moreh (on Manipur-Myanmar border) was the root cause of the conflict.
The NSCN-IM considers Moreh, a major border trade town, to be a part of the Khurmi region of Nagaland.
“The Kukis invited the trouble and the Nagas were victimised instead,” the NSCN-IM said, denying any hand in the Naga-Kuki conflict during 1992-1997.
COMMents
SHARE